In the past, maintenance of armored vehicles such as tanks, armored personnel carriers and the like having a rotatable turret thereon required that the turret be removed from the vehicle to obtain access to the vehicle engine compartment through an access hatch on the vehicle body that normally cannot be opened because of interference with the turret. Of course, removal of the turret from the vehicle requires heavy equipment such as a crane of one type or another to lift the turret off the vehicle and is a complex time-consuming procedure, especially under field conditions, where the required equipment for turret removal may not be available. There is thus a need to simplify and facilitate maintenance of turret-carrying armored vehicles.
The Panhard U.S. Pat. No. 2,983,197 issued May 9, 1961 shows a light-weight turret including two machine guns and a grenade launcher.
The Even U.S. Pat. No. 3,145,620 issued Aug. 25, 1964 describes a two-man tank vehicle having a rotatable turret supported on the vehicle body in such a manner as to increase the field of vision of the driver.
The Vickers U.S. Pat. No. 3,348,451 issued Oct. 24, 1967 shows a gun turret with a gun mounting, the major part of which is located outside the turret.
The Selle U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,323 issued Apr. 3, 1973 illustrates a hatch cover for an armored vehicle which pivots in a balanced manner vertically about a pair of pivot bearings into a hatch opening and an armored collar to provide additional visibility and occupant protection.
An observation structure such as for a turret is described in the Mechulam et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,004,494 issued Jan. 25, 1977 while an armored vehicle with a turret is disclosed in the Appelblatt et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,158,986 issued Jun. 26, 1979.
A remote-controlled bomb recovery and shield apparatus is disclosed in the Boller U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,201 issued Mar. 30, 1973. The apparatus includes a high strength shell to enclose a bomb and a wire rope covered lid pivotable on a post on the top of the shell to an open position to permit a pick-up device to place the bomb in the shell and pivotable to a closed position over the top of the shell.